Box Score CAMDEN, N.J. – The recent history of the Rutgers University-Camden and The College of New Jersey men's basketball series has seen the teams take turns sweeping the two-game season series for the last four seasons.
The Scarlet Raptors are hoping that trend continues this year and they are halfway toward their goal after escaping with a thrilling 74-71 victory over the Lions here Tuesday night in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game.
Rutgers-Camden improves to 3-1 overall, while TCNJ falls to 2-3. Both teams are 1-1 in NJAC play.
Although TCNJ has a commanding lead in the all-time series, 58-18, the rivals have swapped series sweeps the last four years, with TCNJ sweeping last season after Rutgers-Camden won both games during the 2012-13 campaign.
Tuesday's game was just as tight as the recent history after the Lions roared back from a 66-55 deficit in the final 4:38 of regulation. After Rutgers-Camden senior guard
K.J. Brown (Sicklerville, NJ/Living Faith Christian Academy) hit a pair of foul shots to give the Raptors that 11-point lead, the Lions went on a 16-8 run, cutting the gap to 74-71 with nine seconds remaining. Sophomore guard
Nick Alaimo (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) had a pair of big three-pointers in that stretch and senior guard
Jayson Johnson (Columbus, NJ/Life Center Academy) cut the gap to three points with a foul shot down the stretch. After he missed the second foul shot, the Raptors grabbed the rebound and were fouled, but missed both shots. Johnson grabbed the defensive rebound and missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with one second remaining.
Rutgers-Camden received a game-high 26 points from senior guard
Wyatt Polk (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial), including 16 in a hot first half to help the Raptors take a 40-35 lead at the break.
Brown finished with 17 points for the Scarlet Raptors, 15 of them in the second half. He finished 9-for-10 from the foul line, including 7-for-8 down the stretch. Sophomore forward
Matt O'Keefe (Sicklerville, NJ/Paul VI) and sophomore guard
Marcus Taylor (Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) each scored nine points for the Raptors.
TCNJ received 16 points apiece from Johnson and junior center
Bobby Brackett (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence). Brackett also added a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double, and a game-high four blocked shots.
Senior forward
Skylar Ettin (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) added 15 points for the Lions.
Rutgers-Camden shot 43.1 percent (22-for-51) from the floor, including 9-for-16 (56.3) from three-point range. TCNJ was 23-for-50 (46.0) from the floor, including 8-for-21 (38.1) from three-point range.
The Lions held a 35-33 edge off the boards but also made seven more turnovers (22-15) than the Scarlet Raptors.
The Lions play a non-conference game Saturday at 12 p.m. when they visit The City College of New York.
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Dec. 3 with a 6 p.m. NJAC game at Rowan University.
